Vol. II, No. 2
Coming Next
- 60s Kitchens
- 1953 Aladdin Plans
What's New!
Summer '09
Galleries
Plan Books
Spring '09
Galleries
Plan Books
- 1948 Estes Homes
- 1951 Aladdin
- 1952 National Plan
- 1954 National Plan
- 1955 National Plan
- 1960 Estes Homes
- 1961 Weyerhauser
Bibliography
Winter 2010
Mid Century Pink
During the 20th century, with its myriad home and ladies magazines, pink was a consistently popular color ... and not always limited to just children's rooms. On the game plan for the coming season, we'll publish a gallery of just pink rooms from 1937 to 1963. The image shown here was from a 1950 Armstrong ad. It's like a train wreck ... you just HAVE to look!
From 1955 through the first half of the 1960s, a huge change in home design took place creating the "mid century" style most of us associate with the atomic age.
Our first few galleries encompass the most used rooms in the house: the kitchen, bathroom, and living room. For more images, see our Flicker collection.
New Plan Books
We have a few more new house plan books including a couple early '50s Weyerhaeuser 4-Square books, c. 1953 and 1960 Lewis Liberty books, and a 1956 Sterling book by International Mill & Timber.
Research
Send us an email if you have research questions! We're always happy to look through our materials for answers to your questions about your mid century home.
Why 1937 to 1963?
Strictly speaking, "mid century" is 1950, but that doesn't reflect the breadth of changes that took place in the middle part of the 20th century. We've decided to encompass the last few years of the Great Depression, through World War II, the post WWII era, the 50s to 1963.
The Great Depression was a period of social upheaval but it was also a period of tremendous design ingenuity. Art Deco, popular during the latter half of the 1920s and into the 1930s collided with the Art Moderne movement which evolved into a design movement sometimes called Streamline. That was the jumping off point for the Mid Century Modern style that marked the Atomic design period of the post WWII era.
The Second World War was another amazing period during which Americans were called upon to sacrifice, grow their own food, and had only meager access to certain materials such as gasoline, metals, rubber, and silk. Rationing, a concept that seems foreign to us today, was one of the means used to win the War.
After the War, came the Boom years. Using the GI Bill, millions of American families were able to build their own homes or buy into one of the thousands of suburban developments that sprang up around every city.
What you'll find here
We'll explore the design, homes, and lifestyles of the mid-20th century through house plans, interior designs and styles, color schemes, and advertising. Though we love Mid Century Modern, we'll also look at other styles that were equally popular, including the influence of Colonial style on the more informal Early American with its famous knotty pine paneling, the then contemporary style, and even Western. We'll provide book links to useful reading so you can learn more. Eventually, we will offer a marketplace of products and services that you can use to feather your own nest in the mid-century style that suits you. (For older homes, check out Antique Home & Style.)
Have fun, and don't hesitate to contact us with research questions or comments.
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